Dietary-nutritional needs in tennis: a narrative review

Abstract

Introduction: Tennis is characterized by a large number of competitions and little recovery time between them. Thus, tennis players and coaching staff have become interested in the role that nutrition can play in maximizing sports performance. The scientific literature does not have recent narrative and/or systematic reviews about to nutrition in tennis. The aim of this study is to map, describe and discuss the state of the science of nutrition and dietetic practices for tennis players from a theoretical and contextual point of view, to enable focused future systematic reviews. Material and methods: A narrative review through the Dialnet, Elsevier, Medline, Pubmed and Web of Science databases, through a search strategy based on keywords separated by Boolean connectors. A series of inclusion / exclusion criteria were applied to select those investigations that responded to the aim of the work. Results: Nutritional recommendations on carbohydrate intake depend on the training load, 5-7 g/kg/day g/kg/day for normal training and 7-10 g/kg/day for competitive periods or high training load. The recommended protein intake is 1.8 g/kg/day and 1 g/kg/day of lipids. The supplements that can optimize tennis performance are caffeine, sodium bicarbonate, creatine and -alanine. Beetroot juice can be a possible aid to consider in dietetic-nutritional planning in tennis players. Conclusions: Performance and health of tennis player can be optimized, as well as adequate periodization of nutrients and supplements, meeting to the physiological demands of tennis.